The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):
rubber-hose cryptanalysis
n.
[sci.crypt newsgroup] The technique of breaking a code or cipher by finding
someone who has the key and applying a rubber hose vigorously and
repeatedly to the soles of that luckless person's feet until the key is
discovered. Shorthand for any method of coercion: the originator of the
term drily noted that it ?can take a surprisingly short time and is quite
computationally inexpensive? relative to other cryptanalysis methods.
Compare social engineering, brute force.